Whitney Rose made rare comments about her ex-husband and first marriage on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 7.
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While several of her RHOSLC castmates celebrated Britani Bateman’s daughter Olivia Bateman’s 21st birthday with strawberry-infused tequila shots in Episode 6, Whitney recalled that time in her own life to a producer. “My 21st birthday, I was married to my ex-husband who didn’t drink,” Whitney, who’s now 40, said in a confessional. “We were doing the Mormon thing, so I probably went to Applebee’s.”
Within a year, Whitney’s life drastically changed, however, particularly after meeting Justin Rose, from whom she recently filed for divorce.Â
“My 22nd birthday, I was going through a divorce, I met Justin, and we were drinkin’,” she added, joking, “It’s probably how I got pregnant with Bobbie.”
Who is Whitney Rose’s ex-husband?
Whitney’s ex-husband is Samuel “Sam” Burgess, who was a student athlete on the Brigham Young University (BYU) basketball team when he and Whitney got married in the summer of 2007.
“I married, like, the most amazing Mormon man. He really is the best person, hands down,” Whitney said on a 2021 episode of Vanderpump Rules alum Katie Maloney’s former podcast, You’re Gonna Love Me with Katie Maloney, before recalling her and Sam’s 2007 nuptials. “On paper, [it] would be like the royal wedding of Alpine, Utah, because of our families and our backgrounds.”
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When did Whitney Rose meet her first husband?
Whitney said she was 19 years old when she met her first husband.
When did Whitney Rose marry her first husband?
Whitney said that she and Sam were together for roughly three months before they started discussing marriage. They got engaged after roughly six months of dating and walked down the aisle less than six months later. “I had no idea who I was or what I was doing,” Whitney said on the aforementioned 2021 podcast episode, sharing that they also “didn’t have sex before marriage.”
Whitney went on to theorize that their abstinence had led her and her first husband to confuse the “forbidden” sexual tension between them with an actual legitimate connection. “We get married and, unfortunately, that connection just wasn’t there for me,” she said, referring to her feelings after they eventually consummated their relationship.
How Whitney Rose’s affair with Justin Rose impacted her first marriage
Roughly six months into her first marriage, Whitney met Justin, who was her co-worker and also married to someone else at the time. Sparks flew, and as Whitney previously detailed on RHOSLC, she and Justin went on to have an “affair.”
“When I met Justin, it wasn’t just meeting a man,” Whitney previously told Bravo Insider in November 2024. “It was an instant soul connection where I knew this person was going to be in my life. I just didn’t know how.”
Once they mutually realized that they actually wanted to start a life together, Justin separated from his wife and moved out of their marital home. Whitney, on the other hand, said on Katie’s podcast that she told her husband what was going on, but continued to go back and forth between him and Justin, for a period of time. She even confessed her affair with Justin to leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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By Whitney’s account, the LDS Church leaders advised her that she would be forgiven if she stayed with Sam. However, she ultimately decided to leave both him and the Church, in order to be with Justin.
Whitney further noted that her ex-husband is “happily married now.”
When did Whitney and Justin Rose get married?
Whitney married Justin in November 2009, just more than two years after her first wedding took place. Whitney and Justin had been together for roughly 17 years when they eventually decided to separate in May 2026.
As RHOSLC Season 7 continues, don’t miss an update on Whitney and Justin’s post-split dynamic.
